Test brings scifi depictions of laser weapons vaporizing targets into reality
Published on 09-07-2009
Source: UPI
http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Security-Industry/2009/09/03/Laser-weapon-goes-through-successful-test/UPI-97971251988265/
A potential new laser weapon fired from the air to a ground target went through a successful test over White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, Boeing said.
A Boeing spokesman told United Press International the first flight of the Advanced Tactical Laser aircraft was designed primarily as a learning test bed and to demonstrate its feasibility.
The test brings closer to reality fictional movie depictions of laser weapons incinerating or vaporizing targets, but no specifications of the target vehicle or the final outcome of the test were immediately available.
Boeing organized the test jointly with the U.S. Air Force on Aug. 30, the company said.
During the test flight of the ATL aircraft, a C-130H, the ground target was attacked from the air over the missile range. It was the first time that an ATL aircraft demonstrated the high-power laser engagement of a tactically representative target, Boeing said.
The C-130H aircraft took off from Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico and fired the chemical laser through its beam control system while in flight.
The beam control system on board homed in on the unoccupied stationary vehicle and guided the laser beam onto it as directed by ATL’s battle management system. “The laser beam’s energy defeated the vehicle,” Boeing said. It offered no description of what happened to the vehicle.
The company called the test a “milestone,” adding deployment of a similar weapon could transform future battles and save lives.
Greg Hyslop, vice president and general manager of Boeing Missile Defense Systems, said ATL would give fighters a “speed-of-light, ultra-precision engagement capability” that could dramatically reduce collateral damage.
The ATL flight follows a June 13 test in which a laser fired from the air for the first time hit a target board on the ground. Additional tests will now follow to further demonstrate the system’s military utility, but Boeing says the demonstrations have shown that “ATL works, and works very well.”
Research into laser applications in the defense industry has engaged major players and involved other key recent tests.
Northrop Grumman also announced it successfully completed testing of its global positioning system-guided weapons technology at the White Sands Missile Range.
The company’s Viper Strike system is equipped with GPS laser guidance accuracy capabilities and is designed to be integrated into Northrop Grumman’s Hunter unmanned aircraft system.
In August, Boeing and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency announced they moved closer to developing an airborne high-energy laser weapon that will shoot down an upcoming offensive missile. In the first test over the California High Desert, a high-energy laser was fired from a modified 747-400F into a calorimeter, also on board, to measure the power of the beam.
Once there and while still in flight the ABL Jumbo unleashed its laser striking the calorimeter, allowing experts to determine how much more power will be required to make the weapon effective in combat.
Unlike stealth technology, which began as a passive countermeasure against increasingly advanced detection technology, airborne laser offers both pre-emptive and offensive paths of development, analysts said.
You need to be a member of Peacepink3 to add comments!
Burning beam target: US Navy may deploy lasers in four years
Published: 31 March, 2012, 16:44
This US Navy photo shows how members of the Directed Energy and Electric Weapon Systems Program Office, of Naval Sea Systems Command, fire a laser through a beam director (AFP Photo / US NAVY / Handout)
The US Navy hopes to have operational laser cannons on their ships within the next four years. They will be used against fast-moving targets like cruise missiles, speedboats and drones.
The Navy hopes to have a working prototype for the futuristic laser weapon within two years, Wired reports.
“The contract will probably have options go through four years, but depending on which laser source the vendors pick, we may be able to demo something after two years,” says Roger McGiness, who works on laser tech at the Office of Naval Research (ONR).
Mike Deitchman, who oversees future weapons development for ONR, says in a month or two his directorate will hold an informal idea session with industry representatives. A contract for building a prototype may be sealed by the end of the year.
The development comes after the Navy decided laser weapons technology is mature enough for deployment. The tipping point was last April’s test of a 15-kilowatt beam solid state laser, which managed to set afire the target ship’s engine. The target was moving at a distance of almost 2 km from the laser-equipped destroyer.
It’s not clear how ONR’s proceeding with a relatively low-power laser will affect research of a more powerful megawatt-scale weapon under the Free Electro Laser project. The Navy hopes to develop a more powerful scalable weapon using magnets rather than a crystal as the gain medium. It could be used against heavily-armored vessels as opposed to unarmored aircraft and boats.
However, such a laser remains elusive after a decade of research. Engineers still have no idea how to scale down such a device to fit onto a vessel or how to produce enough power onboard to feed it.
“It’s easier to shrink down a solid-state laser, and there’s a maturity here, vice the Free Electron Laser,” Deitchman explained. “The solid-state laser will still deal with many asymmetric threats, but not the most hardened, most challenging threats. It’s near-to-mid term. The Free Electron Laser is still long-term.”
Futuristic laser weapons are not the only ones the US Navy hopes to deploy. In February, ONR announced it had started testing for the first industry prototype of an electromagnetic railgun launcher. The weapon uses powerful magnetic fields to accelerate a conductive projectile to speeds of thousands of meters per second – enough to throw it hundreds of kilometers.
Laser guns have been a staple of science fiction for decades, but in reality their use is generally restricted to sighting, ranging and targeting applications. But that is all set to change. For the first time an airborne laser (ABL) weapon mounted aboard a modified Boeing 747 has shot down a ballistic missile launched from an at-sea mobile launch platform off the central California coast.
The February 11 test was the first directed energy lethal intercept demonstration against a liquid-fuel boosting ballistic missile target from an airborne platform. It serves as a proof-of-concept demonstration for directed energy technology for the Missile Defense Agency. The test comes less than a year after a similar test that located, tracked and fired on a target missile. In that test a surrogate high-energy laser was used. That surrogate has now been replaced by a megawatt-class high-energy laser.
The latest test involved launching a short-range threat-representative ballistic missile from an at-sea mobile launch platform. Within seconds, the Airborne Laser Testbed (ALTB) used onboard sensors to detect the boosting missile and used a low-energy laser to track the target. The ALTB then fired a second low-energy laser to measure and compensate for atmospheric disturbance. Finally, the ALTB fired its megawatt-class High Energy Laser, heating the boosting ballistic missile to critical structural failure. The entire engagement occurred within two minutes of the target missile launch, while its rocket motors were still thrusting.
Less than one hour later, a second solid fuel short-range missile was launched from a ground location on San Nicolas Island, Calif. and the ALTB successfully engaged the boosting target with its High Energy Laser, met all its test criteria, and terminated lasing prior to destroying the second target. The ALTB destroyed a solid fuel missile, identical to the second target, in flight on February 3, 2010.
The use of directed energy is very attractive for missile defense, with the potential to attack multiple targets at the speed of light, at a range of hundreds of kilometers, and at a low cost per intercept attempt compared to current technologies. It also means the strength of the laser can be altered to suit the circumstances.
However, even with the success of the demonstration, questions still remain as to the real-world worth of the system. The one to five minute period just after launch is the easiest time to track a missile because its exhaust is burning bright and hot. This means the intercepting laser must be in close proximity, as was the case with the successful test. Shooting down a long-range missile after that window is closed is going to be a much more difficult (and useful) feat. But we鈥檙e sure the Missile Defense Agency is working on it.
The high-energy laser was designed and built by Northrop Grumman Corp, while Lockheed Martin Corp supplied the beam- and fire-control systems and Boeing provided the aircraft, the battle management system and overall systems integration and testing.
Replies
http://www.rt.com/news/laser-cannons-usa-four-years-926/
Burning beam target: US Navy may deploy lasers in four years
Published: 31 March, 2012, 16:44
This US Navy photo shows how members of the Directed Energy and Electric Weapon Systems Program Office, of Naval Sea Systems Command, fire a laser through a beam director (AFP Photo / US NAVY / Handout)
TAGS:Arms, Military, SciTech, USA, Vessels
The US Navy hopes to have operational laser cannons on their ships within the next four years. They will be used against fast-moving targets like cruise missiles, speedboats and drones.
The Navy hopes to have a working prototype for the futuristic laser weapon within two years, Wired reports.
“The contract will probably have options go through four years, but depending on which laser source the vendors pick, we may be able to demo something after two years,” says Roger McGiness, who works on laser tech at the Office of Naval Research (ONR).
Mike Deitchman, who oversees future weapons development for ONR, says in a month or two his directorate will hold an informal idea session with industry representatives. A contract for building a prototype may be sealed by the end of the year.
The development comes after the Navy decided laser weapons technology is mature enough for deployment. The tipping point was last April’s test of a 15-kilowatt beam solid state laser, which managed to set afire the target ship’s engine. The target was moving at a distance of almost 2 km from the laser-equipped destroyer.
It’s not clear how ONR’s proceeding with a relatively low-power laser will affect research of a more powerful megawatt-scale weapon under the Free Electro Laser project. The Navy hopes to develop a more powerful scalable weapon using magnets rather than a crystal as the gain medium. It could be used against heavily-armored vessels as opposed to unarmored aircraft and boats.
However, such a laser remains elusive after a decade of research. Engineers still have no idea how to scale down such a device to fit onto a vessel or how to produce enough power onboard to feed it.
“It’s easier to shrink down a solid-state laser, and there’s a maturity here, vice the Free Electron Laser,” Deitchman explained. “The solid-state laser will still deal with many asymmetric threats, but not the most hardened, most challenging threats. It’s near-to-mid term. The Free Electron Laser is still long-term.”
Futuristic laser weapons are not the only ones the US Navy hopes to deploy. In February, ONR announced it had started testing for the first industry prototype of an electromagnetic railgun launcher. The weapon uses powerful magnetic fields to accelerate a conductive projectile to speeds of thousands of meters per second – enough to throw it hundreds of kilometers.
http://www.engadget.com/2008/06/21/infosys-develops-3d-cellphone-ca...
Laser that projects hologram device
Laser guns have been a staple of science fiction for decades, but in reality their use is generally restricted to sighting, ranging and targeting applications. But that is all set to change. For the first time an airborne laser (ABL) weapon mounted aboard a modified Boeing 747 has shot down a ballistic missile launched from an at-sea mobile launch platform off the central California coast.
The February 11 test was the first directed energy lethal intercept demonstration against a liquid-fuel boosting ballistic missile target from an airborne platform. It serves as a proof-of-concept demonstration for directed energy technology for the Missile Defense Agency. The test comes less than a year after a similar test that located, tracked and fired on a target missile. In that test a surrogate high-energy laser was used. That surrogate has now been replaced by a megawatt-class high-energy laser.
The latest test involved launching a short-range threat-representative ballistic missile from an at-sea mobile launch platform. Within seconds, the Airborne Laser Testbed (ALTB) used onboard sensors to detect the boosting missile and used a low-energy laser to track the target. The ALTB then fired a second low-energy laser to measure and compensate for atmospheric disturbance. Finally, the ALTB fired its megawatt-class High Energy Laser, heating the boosting ballistic missile to critical structural failure. The entire engagement occurred within two minutes of the target missile launch, while its rocket motors were still thrusting.
Less than one hour later, a second solid fuel short-range missile was launched from a ground location on San Nicolas Island, Calif. and the ALTB successfully engaged the boosting target with its High Energy Laser, met all its test criteria, and terminated lasing prior to destroying the second target. The ALTB destroyed a solid fuel missile, identical to the second target, in flight on February 3, 2010.
The use of directed energy is very attractive for missile defense, with the potential to attack multiple targets at the speed of light, at a range of hundreds of kilometers, and at a low cost per intercept attempt compared to current technologies. It also means the strength of the laser can be altered to suit the circumstances.
However, even with the success of the demonstration, questions still remain as to the real-world worth of the system. The one to five minute period just after launch is the easiest time to track a missile because its exhaust is burning bright and hot. This means the intercepting laser must be in close proximity, as was the case with the successful test. Shooting down a long-range missile after that window is closed is going to be a much more difficult (and useful) feat. But we鈥檙e sure the Missile Defense Agency is working on it.
The high-energy laser was designed and built by Northrop Grumman Corp, while Lockheed Martin Corp supplied the beam- and fire-control systems and Boeing provided the aircraft, the battle management system and overall systems integration and testing.